Montana D-Force (Brotherhood Protectors Book 3) by Elle James Read Free Book Online Page B

or embarrassed. You were brutally attacked.”
    “I know that now. As a sixteen-year-old, all I could think of was what my friends would think. They would never look at me the same. Hell, I didn’t look at me the same. Most of my friends had already had sex with their boyfriends. I didn’t want to be the victim, someone to be pitied.”
    “Why didn’t you tell the sheriff when he came out to your house to investigate the break-in?”
    Mia shrugged. “It’s been thirteen years. I’m sure some statute of limitations would protect him from being prosecuted.”
    “Do you know that for certain?”
    She sighed. “No. To tell the truth, I kind of want to wait and see if I can figure it out without making a big deal of it.”
    “Mia, it was a big deal.”
    “I know. But I don’t want to turn the town upside down looking for someone who might not even live here anymore. What if the attacker was someone from somewhere else?”
    “He hid in the bushes, waiting for you,” Bear said. “The guy had to have known you, and watched you enough to know when you would get off that bus, and that your folks wouldn’t be waiting for you.”
    Mia had thought of that. “Still, I don’t want to disrupt lives of those who weren’t directly involved, or cast doubts on innocent people.”
    “If you want to find the guy, you have to ask questions,” Bear insisted.
    “So, maybe I’m not sure I want to find this guy,” she snapped.
    Bear released the hand he’d been holding. “Sorry. I thought that was the reason you came back to Eagle Rock.”
    “I came back to write a script and deal with my parents’ house.” Mia closed her eyes and focused on remaining calm.
    For several minutes she remained silent, knowing what she had to do, but not liking it any more now than when she was sixteen. She drew in a deep breath, released it and opened her eyes. “You’re right. I came back because I wondered if anyone else had suffered an attack like mine. I couldn’t live with the guilt. If I had reported the attack when it happened, my attacker could have been identified and put in jail. Instead, he’s been free to commit more attacks. Because I was a coward, others could have been hurt.”
    “Others could have been hurt because of him , not you. He’s the bad guy in this situation.”
    As they entered town, Mia stared at passing vehicles and people on the sidewalks. “I really have no idea who it could have been.”
    “Was there any guy who’d made a pass at you? Someone you might have rebuffed?”
    Mia shook her head. “I barely knew what a pass was. Yeah, I watched guys and girls flirt, but I guess I wasn’t ready for it. We were in a small school. Everyone knew everyone else.”
    “Meaning, he knew you, and you knew him,” Bear said quietly.
    A chill slipped across her skin. “As far as I knew, I didn’t have any enemies. I was an introvert, more into my books than boys. My friend Kylie was the social butterfly, the cheerleader and popular girl. Why would someone target me?”
    “Maybe he saw you as a challenge?” Bear suggested.
    Mia shot a glance his way. “A challenge?”
    Bear nodded. “Some sick bastards like the challenge of getting away with things. Especially with women who would be too shy to call the police and report an attack, if she lived to tell.”
    That had been exactly what Mia had done. Or not done.
    She pointed to the right. “This is the hardware store.”
    Bartlett’s Hardware was a small building, probably as old as the town of Eagle Rock. The windows were gray with dirt and age. The sign listed to the right, in need of a more secure mooring, and the paint on the side of the building curled from the harsh Montana winters and age.
    For bigger projects, most people drove into Bozeman to the shiny, newer warehouse stores with huge selections. At Bartlett’s, a rancher could get the basics. Nails, boards and fencing materials.
    Mia used to accompany her father to Bartlett’s when she was little.